Quebec Driving: Cell Phone Ban, Speed Cameras proposed

[bond_james_bond]

For you guys who drive in, might want to keep an eye out for this.

It looks like Quebec is considering a ban on cell phone use while driving, and experimentation with speed cameras/photo radar.

http://autos.canada.com/news/story.html?id=672ec625-0e6c-47da-b4f5-52fc2e1f628f

QUEBEC -- Quebec will join a growing number of jurisdictions in banning cellphone use by drivers and by launching a photo radar pilot project.

"We don't want to trap motorists, but (we want) to save lives," Transport Minister Julie Boulet said Thursday.
Boulet said that photo radar speeding fines would go into a fund for highway safety and not into government coffers.

Under an 18-month pilot project, photo radar would be set up at nine sites where there have been accidents and where it is difficult for police to use other measures to discourage speed.

Drivers would be warned of photo radar sites ahead.

So what do you guys think?

Cell phone ban: Saving lives or discriminating against cell users?

Speed cameras/photo radar: Life-saver or Big Brother money-maker?

 

[metoo4]

Photo radar, won't happen in a near future. Still at the project stage. We can bet Décarie, Métropolitain, 720 and other Montreal sectors will be the first target for this.

Ban cell phones? Neither. What will be banned is using cell without a hands-free device. One less thing to hold on top of the cigarette, the BigMac, the lipstick, the newspaper... and more time doing boring stuff like holding the steering wheel and paying attention.

Ontario will start cracking down hard on excessive speeding on Sept. 30 (50km/h over) by seizing the vehicle and imposing a minimum fine of $2000 to $10,000, with a seized vehicle and suspended licence on the spot. In case of reoccurence, the driver's licence could be suspended up to 10 years.

Quebec will follow a similar path very soon, but less agressive.

 

[jacep]

For those people who live in a jurisdiction that used to have or still has photo radar, can they explain to me what happens with the demerit points? Who gets penalized with this? A parking offense is billed to the owner of the car but when you get a moving violation ticket which has demerit point implications, what happens? When a cop stops you for a moving violation (going through a stop sign, red light, or speeding), he/she witnessed that you committed the infraction. With photo radar, your car is witnessed doing the infraction but not the driver. Does the owner of the car automatically get the demerit point deduction unless he/she can prove that he/she was not driving at the car at the point in time where/when the infraction was committed and show that someone else was driving the car?

 

[ck_nj]

NJ and NY have both banned cell phone use while driving already. So for me driving north to Quebec, it is nothing new.

 

[Bucky]

no demerit points jimace, juste a fine to the owner of the car...if they ban the cell it's a good thing, i dream of the day where i will see a policeman give a ticket to those rich girls in the west island, driving the SUV of their dad, while talkin' on the phone for hours, smokin', applying lipstick and lookin' at their agenda at the same time. I do delieveries around the province, and i tell you that Montreal is the worst place for this kind of behaviour

 

[Techman]

I totally agree with banning hand held cell phones while driving. I changed to a bluetooth handsfree in the car and it's one of the best things I ever did. Now that I don't have to hold the phone, I can use my free hand to take notes while driving! Just kidding. I do find it is much less distracting to take a call and I recommend it to anyone.

jimace, there are no demerit points from photo radar, just the financial hit. This is one reason that opponents of photo radar claim it is nothing but a cash grab and I agree with that for the most part. I don't feel it will do anything to change drivers' habits as they will slow down when entering a photo radar zone and will go back to speeding when leaving it. But I do think it can be useful in places such as hospital and school zones as people will slow down when they know they will be hit with a heavy fine in these areas and it could save a few lives.

 

[jacep]

Bucky and Techman: Thanks for the information about the demerit points and photo radar.

If that's the case with photo radar where demerit points are not deducted, I probably don't have a problem with it as long as the "buffer" is reasonable. If I were to go 75 km/h or 80 km/h on Decarie where the posted limit is 70km/h, I wouldn't want to get a photo radar ticket for that. This for me would indicate a cash grab. If the buffer were set at 35 km/h above the speed limit, I wouldn't have an issue with it. This would mean that for most streets including service roads, the photo radar speed would be 85 km/h, highways would either be 105 km/h or 135km/h and school/park zones would be 65km/h. However, I doubt that the buffer would be set so high.

Personally, I would like to see Montreal adopt the "unmarked" police cars route of doing things and have more police cruisers on the road. It only takes me 20 minutes to drive to work each day and I witness a minimum of 1 driving/moving violation each day which is normally going through a green, driving at an excessively high speed, failing to obey the signs (not stopping at stop sign, illegal u-turns, illegal turns on right, etc.), and using private/public property to bypass the light/traffic.

Someone I used to work with from Australia told me that in Australia (or at least where he lives), the owner of the car gets the demerit point hit unless he/she proves that he/she lent his/her car to someone else and then the actual driver gets the hit.

 

[jacep]

On another note, I'm glad that Quebec will by allowing GPS units in cars as opposed to what is happening now where it is just tolerated by most peace officers: http://www.canada.com/cityguides/fo...=7f04dd52-4e31-408b-8fa2-34e5ff86cac9&k=76117

 

[jacep]

They should increase revenues from speeding tickets, but enough to offset the cost of the infrastructure ? I'd be curious to see that business case.

I believe that the revenues generated from photo radar would offset the cost of the infrastructure. When Montreal hired the new traffic officers (I'm not sure of the number and I can't find the article now but I believe that it was around 50), these new officers already gave out enough tickets totalling more than their annual salaries within a few months.

 

[Bucky]

I think it was 130 new officers, dedicated to circulation (tickets)..a hint metropolitan in st-leonard, take off your foot on the throttle, i'm there every morning with the truck, and they are hungry for your money...

 

[jacep]

Jeeze I've had it in my cars for about 5 years and am just learning it wasn't legal in Quebec.

During that time I must have been pulled over a half dozen times and have never even been questioned about it by the officer.

I guess I'll sleep better tonight knowing I soon won't be a wanted man.

I've had one in my car for 2 years and I've never been pulled over by the police for anything within that time. If I were pulled over, it would be at the officer's descretion whether he/she wanted to issue a ticket for "having a display screen viewable by the driver".

The difference between it being legal and being tolerated is as you guessed it, based on the descretion of the peace officer that stops you. If he/she is on a power trip, he/she can legally give you a ticket in the province of Quebec for having a GPS and you can't dispute the charge. The exact law was created to prevent drivers from using anything with a display screen within eyeshot while he/she is driving (such as a display for a DVD player, television, etc.). It wasn't created for the GPS but the law doesn't currently give an exemption for GPS units. When I mentioned to someone from the SAAQ (Quebec body in charge of driving laws, driving licenses, etc.) that some cars come with a built-in GPS unit as part of the dash (luxury cars), I was told that it is legal to use a GPS but only if the car is at a complete stop (which is stupid). If I were at a complete stop, I would just use a map. A GPS is meant to be used while driving and not when the car is at a complete stop.

 

[metoo4]

I use my laptop as a GPS, with an external GPS puck. BIG 17 inches screen!! And I also usually have my BlackBerry on the dashboard. I was pulled over once by a cop and, seeing all the hardware and bunch of wiring, he asked me what it was for. I told him it was my GPS on laptop and my BlackBerry. He said "Ok, I tough the BB was some kind of radar detector." The map display was clearly visible on the laptop but, all he looked at was the BB on the dashboard. Sooo... It's true, it all depended on the officer!
I do know a guy who actually use his laptop to watch movies WHILE DRIVING!! His reasonning: at 3:00am on a highway, what can happen? Better watch a movie than fall asleep! He said he only glance once in a while! I keep repeating to him this is stupid but no luck, he doens't believe me!

 

[breadman]

I read they have a new photo radar system using 2 camera's...one takes the picture of your car at one point...the other takes your picture at the next point. So slowing down for the camera doesnt work...it calculates how fast you were going from camera to camera.